JPS62259313A - Keyboard - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to a cover member for a keyboard, particularly for use in manual keyboards in which a large number of push button members are attached individually or as a unit to one membrane switch board. This relates to a keyboard that is considered useful.

(Prior art) Conventionally, a keyboard cover member has been placed on a membrane switch board in which contacts and conductive patterns are arranged on opposing surfaces with a spacer interposed therebetween, in order to give a click feeling when suppressed. The keyboard cover member 9 used is one in which the push button part 7 and the push button base part 8 are connected and integrated.

This kind of keyboard cover member 9 as shown in FIG.
After making a mold in advance that has a cavity that matches the shape of this keyboard cover member 9, unvulcanized insulating rubber is placed on top of the mold, and a large number of push buttons are formed by heating and pressurizing the mold. 7 and the push button base part 8 are connected and integrated, so in order to obtain the keyboard cover part 9 as shown in FIG. In addition, when creating this mold, a new mold was created to take into account the expansion and contraction of the molded product after molding and the expansion and contraction during use, which would affect the entire keyboard cover part in one different part. Not only does it require trial-and-error mold design, manufacturing, and inspection, but it also requires 20×50
It is said that a large mold for a cover part for a #- board of about C+U is geometrically more expensive than a small one (about 5cm x 10cm), and also requires the preparation of a large press machine. There was a disadvantage.

Furthermore, in order to manufacture a keyboard cover member with push button parts of different hues, which has been in demand recently, it is necessary to simultaneously place unvulcanized insulating rubber of the required hue in the cavity and then heat and pressurize it. Because of this, the hues tend to mix at the boundary, so the product does not have the intended hue boundary, resulting in extremely low yields, not suitable for high-mix, low-volume production, and resulting in high costs. there were.

(Structure of the Invention) The present invention relates to a keyboard that solves such disadvantages, and is made by aligning the contact pattern on a flexible printed circuit board with conductive layers such as contacts provided on opposing surfaces via a spacer. The device is characterized in that a push button member or a unit body of a push button member in which a plurality of push button members are connected is fixed to the location via an adhesive or an adhesive.

That is, as a result of various studies by the present inventors on an inexpensive manufacturing method for keyboards that can support high-mix, low-volume production, the present inventors have developed a method in which a large number of push buttons are connected and integrated with a push button base member in this keyboard cover member. Rather than molding in a mold, a large number of push button members or unit bodies of push button members in which a plurality of push button members are connected are prepared, and these are placed in contact with opposing surfaces via spacers 6 shown in FIG. 4 and the conductive circuit and the lead electrode 10 are formed on the flexible printed circuit board, and apply an adhesive or By applying an adhesive, especially unvulcanized silicone rubber, or by providing a silicone rubber layer on the substrate, and fixing the silicone rubber layer to the substrate by hardening and making it elastic, each array pattern of the array contacts can be fixed. This eliminates the need for molds that were previously manufactured each time, eliminating the need for any associated costs.If the push button member is fixed to the board using silicone rubber polishing, this installation cost can also be reduced. The present invention was completed based on the discovery that the desired keyboard can be obtained at a low cost, and that it is possible to obtain a keyboard with any desired pattern, making it possible to quickly respond to high-mix, low-volume production. I let it happen.

The shape of the push button member constituting the keyboard of the present invention.

One color tone of the material may be the one used for the push button part of a known keyboard cover member of this type, and therefore, an elastic material whose sliding part is an inverted bowl-shaped elastic rubber rod, and the push button part may be the one used for the push button part. Elasticity is made of metal plate-like bodies, and those having different sizes, strokes, loads, appearances, etc. can be appropriately selected and used in one combination. This elastic push button member is made of natural rubber, diene-based synthetic rubber such as polybutadiene, polyisoprene, SBR, neoprene, ethylene-propylene-based, urethane-based, etc.
It may be made of synthetic rubber such as polyester or silicone, or a combination thereof, and it is preferably made of silicone rubber, which has excellent heat resistance, weather resistance, and electrical insulation properties. On the other hand, for those that use a metal plate, a plate made of stainless steel, phosphor bronze, beryllium steel, or those plated with gold or silver is pressed into an inverted bowl shape and given elasticity by a disc spring. And it is sufficient. Note that it is optional to apply a suitable primer to the bonding portion with the silicone rubber in order to improve the adhesion with the silicone rubber, which will be described later.

Further, this push button member is made entirely insulative, and may be made in large numbers by a known method such as compression molding, injection molding, or transfer molding.

On the other hand, the flexible printed circuit board constituting the keyboard of the present invention is arranged with the above-mentioned push button members, and this is made of polyimide film, polyester film,
Patterns printed on glass epoxy film, etc.
Alternatively, spacers can be selected as appropriate from the following: copper-clad laminates with contacts provided by etching, metal particles sputtered or vacuum-deposited on plastic films, or electrode bodies with metal grooves embedded at regular intervals. A so-called membrane switch substrate having an upper contact point and a lower contact point via the substrate may be used. The circuit pattern of this membrane switch board is the contact or contact and circuit on the top,
The lower part has a combination of contacts and circuits, and the lead-out electrodes can be removed from the upper, lower, or both, but they should be coated with conductive carbon coating, gold plating, etc. to improve durability and corrosion resistance. It can be done arbitrarily. Further, the spacer between the upper contact and the lower contact can be arbitrarily selected from a conventionally known plastic film made by punching holes, or a spacer formed at the same time as the resist layer is formed on the circuit pattern.

In the keyboard of the present invention, the above-mentioned push button members are arranged on the above-mentioned flexible printed circuit board at positions aligned with the contacts, and these are fixed with an adhesive or an adhesive. 5BR1 Rubber-based materials such as recycled rubber, polyisobutylene, and block rubber, mainly acrylic esters, and acrylic acid.
Examples include those made of copolymers with monomers such as methacrylic acid, acrylamide, vinyl acetate, and styrene, and silicone-based ones made of silicone resin obtained by a condensation reaction of silicone rubber and a hydrolyzate of organochlorosilane. These adhesives may be non-crosslinked, thermosetting, or room temperature curing, and examples of this adhesive include thermosetting urea resins, phenol resins, resorcinol formaldehyde resins, epoxy resins, polyisocyanates,
silicone rubber, but also thermoplastic polyvinyl acetate,
Polyvinyl acetal, polyvinyl alcohol, various acrylic and methacrylic esters, cyanoacrylic esters, polyamide, polyester, polyamideimide, polybenzimidazole, polyimide, as well as composite polymer type polyvinyl acetal/phenolic resin type, rubber/phenolic resin type , epoxy resin/nylon type, etc.

In addition, the push button part of this adhesive can be replaced, and the adhesive has greater adhesive strength than other adhesives, so it does not stay in place and is highly durable, and there is no tack on the surface after curing, and dust does not stick to it. However, among these, silicone rubber is particularly preferable because it can also be used as a resist layer, and it is temporarily fixed using the adhesive force of uncured silicone rubber itself, and then heated or heated. It is made by vulcanizing and curing this uncured silicone rubber under pressure or humidification to fix it.

This silicone rubber may be of the radical reaction type, condensation reaction type, or addition reaction type, and may also be one in which a silane coupling agent or titanate coupling agent is kneaded into it to improve adhesiveness. However, it is preferable to use an addition reaction type that uses organohydrodiene siloxane and a platinum catalyst, which can be vulcanized with short heating and has excellent initial tackiness. Preferably, according to this, it is possible to improve the positional accuracy of temporary fixing of the push button member to the substrate, and there is also the advantage that there is no tackiness after curing, and transportability is improved.

Furthermore, in the keyboard of the present invention, the push button members and the flexible printed circuit board are not only temporarily fixed using adhesive force, but also adhesively fixed by vulcanization and curing of silicone rubber. Not at all,
From a functional point of view, it is provided that is no different from the conventionally known connected and integrated keyboard cover member, but the push button member and flexible printed circuit board are pretreated with a silane coupling agent or a titanate coupling agent. It can also be optionally treated with a suitable primer such as.

In addition, when applying silicone rubber to push button members and flexible printed circuit boards, use the casting method, 1-topping method, printing method, transfer method, etc. to the entire surface of the board, only to the peripheral edge aligned with the contact, or to the board side of the push button member. It can be applied to the legs. This silicone rubber coating is usually 0.0
05-2 min, preferably 0.01-0.3 no
Adhesive fixation can be carried out efficiently in this case.

Next, the keyboard of the present invention will be explained based on the attached drawings. FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal sectional view of the main part of the keyboard of the present invention, in which the leg part 2 of the push button member 1 is covered with a silicone rubber layer 5 on the peripheral edge of the contact point 4 of the flexible printed circuit board 3. Although it is fixed with adhesive, it has the advantage that the shape of the push button part used for the push button part of this type of keyboard cover member can be reused in its entirety.

In the thus obtained keyboard of the present invention, in order to make a keyboard cover member in which a conventional keyboard cover member connects and integrates a push button base portion and a push button portion, the keyboard cover members on the sides are replaced each time. Whereas it was necessary to use a mold designed for one member, a specific single or multiple standard push button members or units thereof are used, and this flexible printed circuit board also has a fixed contact arrangement pattern. Since it can be used arbitrarily according to the requirements, it has the advantage of being able to easily and inexpensively obtain a keyboard with any pattern, and according to Niku, it also enables high-mix, low-volume production, and shortens delivery times. This also provides an industrial advantage in that production efficiency can be improved.

Next, examples of the present invention will be given.

Reference Example 1 (Manufacture of push button member) 100 parts of silicone rubber compound KE951U (product name manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) and 1 part of dicumyl peroxide.
．． 5 parts of insulating rubber compound to which 0.5 parts of colorant (white) was added, 50 kg/aJ, 17. O'
Outer diameter 9 molded under the conditions of C and integrally molded with insulating rubber
, 5m+, inner diameter of 5, contact point equivalent diameter of 4.0mm, dome inner diameter of 8.7m, height of 3.3m, thickness of 0.81m, 48 push button members are installed in parallel rows of 13m and horizontal rows of 15mm. A large number of 10 push button member precursors surrounded by thin parting lines were produced, each measuring 13 am in length and 15 mm in width.
It was divided into rectangles using thin dividing lines.

Reference Example 2 40 parts of calcium carbonate in 100 parts of ethylene propylene rubber EPDM501A [trade name manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical IT$l]
An insulating rubber compound containing 3 parts of dicumyl peroxide, 1 part of a vulcanization aid, 0.5 parts of a coloring agent (red) and 40 parts of a paraffin softener was charged into a mold, and 50k
g/cnf and 170° C. to produce a large number of 480 push button members in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, which were divided into rectangles each measuring 13 iyn in length and 15 fi 1 in width.

Reference Example 3 A dome with an outer diameter of 14.4 mm, an inner diameter of 10.0 mm, and an insulating rubber integrally molded under the same molding conditions, using the same raw materials as Reference Example 1 except that the colorant was black. Inner diameter 1
A large number of 260 push button members (26 pieces x 10 pieces) each having a diameter of 3.4 mm, a height of 6 ffl11, and a thickness of 0 and 8 mm were produced and divided into circular shapes each having a diameter of 18.4 nn+.

Reference Example 4 Same as Reference Example 3 except that the coloring agent was changed to blue, but the outer diameter was 8,0 nu, the inner diameter was 5.0 mm, and the dome inner diameter was 7.4 mm.
A large number of 10 push button member precursors, each of which has a height of 3 inches, a thickness of 0.7 mm, and 76 push button members are provided at parallel intervals of 10 mm in vertical rows and 12 mm in horizontal rows, and these are surrounded by thin dividing lines. Produced individually.

Example 1 On a 0.10 mm polyester film 10, a diameter 3.
Contacts of a conductive carbon layer with a diameter of 4.0 parts m were formed on a 5 m long silver paste at a pitch of 20 nn vertically and horizontally, with 4 contacts per row, and the 4 rows faced each other as shown in FIG. 2, and at the same time, an extraction electrode 10 was formed. Then, silicone rubber was used as a resist layer and a spacer with a thickness of 0. A flexible printed circuit board is prepared by coating and curing O4nm and making the contacts face each other.Next, on this printed circuit board, an addition reaction type self-adhesive silicone rubber KE1800RTVABC with a platinum-based catalyst added is applied as an adhesive to the peripheral edge aligned with the contacts. (Shin-Etsu Chemical component name)
was printed to a thickness of 0.03+n++ using a screen printing method to provide a silicone rubber layer.

Next, the eight push button parts obtained in Reference Example 1.2 were placed on this printed circuit board, and they were placed in an oven at 150°C for 3
When the silicone rubber was cured by heat treatment for 0 minutes,
A keyboard in which two types of push button members were firmly adhered to a printed circuit board was obtained, and this keyboard passed a 10 million keystroke test.

Example 2 A 0.0811n polyimide copper clad laminate was etched to form a conductive pattern with a diameter of 4.0m and facing points at a pitch of 20nn, with 5 pieces per row and 2 rows facing each other as shown in Figure 2. After that, gold plating is done and the hole diameter is 4.
2 own holes punched and double-sided adhesive processed 0 thickness
．． A flexible printed circuit board was prepared by laminating a 15 mm spacer film as an intermediate layer.

Next, 0.05% α-cyanoacrylate adhesive was applied to the leg substrate side of the 10 EPDM push button members obtained in Reference Example 2.
When I made a keyboard by placing and fixing it on the peripheral edge of the printed circuit board in line with the contacts, it was 50 g.
Passed the 00,000 keystroke test.

Example 3 Acrylic double-sided adhesive tape 500 (Nitto Electric Industry Co., Ltd.) which was pre-drilled on the flexible printed circuit board obtained in Example 2 with 2 rows of 5 holes at a 2 om pitch with a hole diameter of 8.5 m (Nitto Electric Industries, Ltd.) ■After positioning and pasting the parts (product name),
The remaining release paper was peeled off, and the 10 push button members obtained in Reference Example 2 were arranged and fixed on the peripheral edge aligned with the contacts to obtain a keyboard, which passed a 1 million keystroke test.

Example 4 0,○75nn polyester film with a diameter of 4.0o
m carbon-silver paste was formed on the upper side at a pitch of 12 mm in 3 rows of 6 pieces per line, and on the lower side at a pitch of 20 m on 4 lines of 15 pieces per line so as to face each other as shown in Figure 2, resist polishing and spacers were formed. silicone rubber with a thickness of 0.05o
After coating and curing, prepare a flexible printed circuit board with the contacts facing each other, and apply primer NQ4 (
Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. ■Product name] was applied and dried.

Next, a platinum-based catalyst-containing addition-reaction low-temperature curing silicone rubber, KE-167 [trade name of Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.], is topped on a polyester film with a thickness of 0.075 nn as a mold release base material to a thickness of 0.075 nm. A .04 mm silicone rubber film was rolled and bonded, and this was laminated on the printed circuit board side coated with the primer. After the entire surface was transferred, the release base material was peeled off, and the unit body of the push button member obtained in Reference Example 4 was placed above. After arranging 3 push button members (6 push button members are 1 unit) and 60 push button members obtained in Reference Example 3 on the peripheral edge aligned with the contact points, heat treatment was performed in an oven at 100°C for 60 minutes to form silicone rubber. When cured, a keyboard with two types of push button members firmly adhered to the printed circuit board was obtained.
It passed the 10 million keystroke test.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the main part of the keyboard of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the keyboard of the present invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are views of a conventionally known keyboard cover member. It shows a perspective view. 1.Push button member. 2... Leg part, 3... Flexible printed circuit board, 4... Contact, 5... Silicone rubber, 6... Spacer, 7... Push button part, 8... Push button base part, 9...・Keyboard cover part. 1o Extraction electrode patent applicant Shin-Etsu Polymer Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Ryo Yamamoto - Sodosha Toge Ichinose Procedural Amendment 1. Display of the case 1939 Patent Application No. 102290 2, Name of the invention Keyboard 3, Person making the amendment Relationship to the case Patent applicant name Shin-Etsu Polymer Co., Ltd. 4, To the agent? , 7. Contents of correction 1) "Spacer" on page 14, line 10 of the specification is corrected to "spacer 6." 2) "Spacer film" on page 15, lines 10 to 11 of the specification is corrected to "spacer film 6." 3) Replace Figure 2 with the one on the attached sheet. that's all

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A push button member or a unit body of a push button member in which a plurality of push button members are connected is placed on a flexible printed circuit board with conductive layers such as contacts provided on opposing surfaces via a spacer, at a location aligned with the contact pattern. A keyboard characterized by being fixed using an adhesive or an adhesive.